Princesa Blanca took Goya Kong’s mask, but is now stuck feuding with her for the rest of time. A genuine monkey’s paw situation.

CMLL has a press event Thursday at noon. It’s the usual bit of not announcing it publicly ahead of time, but bits and pieces leaked out.

The Infierno en el Ring cage match should be announced. We know the participants (the 10 guys in the cibernetico on Friday), and the only thing left is to say if it’ll be on 07/12 or 07/19.

Another major show will take place on Friday August 16, likely involving the same group of independent luchadors seen on the Arena Coliseo Anniversary show.

Marco Corleone teased a positive injury update which will be announced Thursday.

Titan vs Averno will definitely be spotlighted. Guerrero Maya plans on challenging for the Arena Coliseo tag team titles next Sunday, so maybe that’ll be officialized here. That show will probably also be an Arena Mexico one.

There should be updates on the En Busca de un Idolo tournament and CMLL’s recent adventures in Japan. It’s possible CMLL may mention their participation in the G1 tournament, since NJPW will be releasing the full list of participants in about 15 hours later.

There’s probably a bit more than that. It sure looks like there’s also a cage match coming in Puebla (on 07/14 or 07/21) and that’s something that should be stated here. Something spotlighting the Estetas makes sense. Ideally, they’d go as far as announce the Anniversary show date as well.

If you go with the theory that Titan, La Mascara and Rush won the trios titles more by happening to be around the week CMLL decided they needed to do a trios change, then maybe it has little effect on the outcome here. Or maybe Averno just wins to keep the titles spread out. Should be really good either way, and the tercera does not look bad either. Namajague’s worked as a Terrible replacement before.

Only 41 luchadors on this show, anorexic by IWL standards. IWL appears to only have one main event. Tercera could be good if given time (and everyone shows up, which is not always the case with the ex-IWRG trio.)

Main event title change is very weird.The show ending very quickly (because of the earthquake drill) added to the strange feel. It feels like a hurried change because they had to get the titles off the Invasors because someone is leaving and they’d figure out the rest later. Mr. Aguila is still the strong favorite to lose the Infierno en el Ring cage match, so maybe it’s him. Or maybe someone woke up and decided Rush had to have a title belt. CMLL Universal tournament is not that far away.

Dark Angel vs Princesa Blanca was the best match on the show. Sombra’s listed for a Tuesday night show in Guadalajara and then he’s off to Japan. Terrible finishes up Tuesday in Arena Mexico. That’s going to be a tough turnaround for the NJPW 07/05 show.

CMLL (SUN) 06/30/2013Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) El Divino & Virgo b Évola & MagnumDivino took 1/3.
2) Esfinge, León Blanco, Metatrón b Acertijo, Espectrum, InfiernoTecnicos took 1/3.
3) Black Metal, Gallo, Leo, Súper Popular b Bárbaro Cavernario, Exterminador, Maléfico, RáfagaTecnicos took 1/3, Metal defeating Cavernario. Debutee Popular wasn’t involved in any of the finishes.
4) Demonio Rojo b Azteca de Oro [mask]Azteca de Oro pinned Demonio Rojo in the first, Demonio Rojo took the second, and submitted Oro in the third. Azteca de Oro is Antonio Escobedo, 25 years old, 11 years a vet, which means he started wrestling professionally at 14.
5) Máscara Dorada, Mistico, Valiente b Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Niebla RojaEstetas took 1/3, Mistica on Euforia in the third.
6) Último Guerrero b AtlantisAtlantis was again honored for 30 years of wrestling. Atlantis took the first, UG the second, and Gran Guerrero and Ultimo Guerrero pulled a switch in the third fall to get the win.

First time we’ve seen them pull that switch, and probably won’t be the last time.

A feud that restarted for CMLL this spring ends in TxT. Not to a great crowd; looks like maybe a third full. The ruleta de la muerte format does not appear to be a draw; this seems like it would’ve done the same amount if they just announced Rayo vs Universo.

photo by CMLL

CMLL (SUN) 06/23/2013Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Bengala & Fresbee b Cholo & Herodes Jr.
2) Bárbaro Cavernario, Disturbio, Hijo del Signo b Black Metal, Metálico, MolotovBarbaro & Metal’s DF debuts. Barbaro did a lot better. Signo submitted Metalico in the third.
3) Namajague, Puma, Shigeo Okumura b Bushiroad, Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr.Rudos took 2/3, Okumura fouling Maya. Bushiroad looked good and seems to fit right in. Puma suffered a left shoulder injury in the first fall and was favoring it after the match, but you wouldn’t be able to tell in his wrestling.
4) Diamante b Boby Zavala [lightning]Diamante won with an armbar headscissors in 5:09.
5) Diamante Azul, Máscara Dorada, Mistico b Averno, Ephesto, MephistoTecnicos took 2/3, winning the last with a star and an Azul tapatia on Averno in the middle.
6) La Máscara, Rush, Titán b Mr. Águila, Psicosis, Volador Jr.Tencicos took 2/3, Rush & Mascara getting clean pins in the third. La Mascara pointed out he’d beaten Invasors two weeks in a row, and challenged for a trios title match. Rush & Titan supported him, and the Invasors agreed – though there was lots of talk about mask or hair matches to come, and Psicosis threw out a challenge for Mascara’s title.

Show was okay. Title match came out of left field and doesn’t feel like a chance for a title change. Maybe it’s a chance for Aguila to get a convincing win so people won’t suspect he’s losing his hair. Maybe the story will be how Rush reacts if his team loses.

Like this:

CMLL (FRI) 11/16/2012Arena Mexico [CMLL, MT, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Camorra & Disturbio b Bengala & Robin
2) Hombre Bala Jr., Pegasso, Super Halcon Jr. b Hooligan, Raziel, VirusRudos could not get along, lost in straight falls. Raziel & Virus attacked Hooligan & Isis after the match.
3) Mephisto b Diamante [lightning]Mephisto won in 4:50.
4) La Máscara, Rush, Shocker b Felino, Negro Casas, Volador Jr.La Mascara replaced Diamante Azul. Tecnicos took 1/3, Shocker escaping a casita and putting Negro in the reinera for the win. Volador did not work well with his partners.
5) Titán b Averno [MEX WELTER]Titan came in as champion. Seconds were Super Halcon and Mephisto. Averno won the first with a Devil’s Wings, Titan tied it up in the second. About 10 minutes into the third fall, Averno swung Titan into the barricade, and Titan badly hurt a shoulder badly. Doctor checked on Titan but the match continued. Titan was unable to use that arm the rest of the match, but survived a top rope Devil’s Wings and won with a tirabuzon (he knows a hold!) to keep his title. Money throw in after the match.
6) Atlantis, La Sombra, Mistico b Euforia, Niebla Roja, Último GuerreroDiamante Azul replaced Mistico, who appeared in his shoulder brace and said he’d be back in three weeks. Tecnicos took 2/3.

Three weeks is quite a much better prognosis than two months. He’d be back in time for a Year End show, which may not be a coincidence…

As you can read, it’s a copromtoion with the British Embassy, and will include British music, a double decker bus, and Buckingham Palace soldiers. It sounds like an Ultimo Guerrero vs La Sombra singles main event, but I guess they could also be just leading teams.

The John Langdown Down Foundation helps children with Down’s Syndrome. That weekend is the same as the annual Televisa supported “Teleton” to help special needs children, so there’s probably some connection there, though it appears CMLL may be donating a different charity.

That date would seem to mean any major CMLL year end show wouldn’t happen until later in December. However, there’s yet to be any hint of CMLL actually running a major show in December. (I haven’t seen any CMLL TV this weekend yet, so maybe you know something I don’t.) It is possible CMLL says Ultimo Guerrero vs Sombra with British people is enough and calls it a year. We won’t know that for certain for a few weeks, but it’s possible.

In a dream world, Sombra wins the main event when new rudo faction of Rey Escorpion, Dragon Rojo, and Hooligan (british! going for revenge on his old partner!) cost Ultimo Guerrero the match. I dream too much, but Hooligan’s got to be on the card. He’s the only British guy they’ve got! Volador dressing up as one of the Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band alone is not going to be good enough.

CMLL & NJPW also announced the CMLL participation for the three day FantasticaMania event. Tecnicos are Mistico, Titan, La Sombra, Rush, La Mascara, Mascara Dorada, Maximo, and Diamante. Rudos are Volador Jr., Mephisto, Dragon Rojo Jr., Rey Bucanero, Euforia, Misterioso and Okumura. It’s not stated, but I expect Namajague will be back in NJPW in January and would also be on these shows, in addition to the regular NJPW wrestlers. CMLL is also sending ring announcer Ivan and edecan Bruni.

Mistico and Titan are the tecnicos making the NJPW debut. Euforia is the only rudo making his debut here. NJPW also introduces Rey Bucanero, who’s been in NJPW as part of the team with Ultimo Guerrero prior but not in many years (and not under the current regime.) It’s a total of 14 CMLL wrestlers this time, up from 9 on previous shows.

The tour is being promoted around the first appearance of the new Mistico. NJPW mentions the previous one was IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship, setting the bar for this one (though I’d imagine that’s not something happening this year.)

Titan earned this spot by winning En Busca de Un Idolo, but the 2nd (Euforia), 3rd (Mistico) and 4th (Diamante) place finishers all got in as well. That makes the winning a bit cheap (though true to most reality shows), but I’m not certain Titan would’ve made it if he didn’t make the final 2 of the tournament given where he was before the tournament. This is still a win for #porraTitan.

There is plenty of pressure on the younger guys, but La Mascara might have the most to prove. Mascara was embarrassingly poor on the first FantasticaMania shows, looking in no condition to perform on both shows. It was said Mascara was ill and tried to work thru it (and the wrestlers on the show defended him against criticism), but everything he tried looked abysmally bad. Just having OK matches would be a vast improvement, but the Brazos have a great reputation in Japan and I’m certain La Mascara will be motivated to raise his families name back up.

FantasitcaMania had four title matches in 2011 involving CMLL wrestlers (and one that was between NJPW & DDT), and two in 2012. FantasticaMania expands to three days this year, and so the title match number is likely to increase. Titan (National Welterweight), Rush (CMLL Light Heavyweight), La Mascsara (National Light Heavyweight), Dragon Rojo Jr. (NWA & CMLL Middleweight), Rey Bucanero (NWA Light Heavyweight) all have major CMLL titles. Dragon Rojo’s already stated he’ll defend against either Jushin Lyger or Prince Devitt on these shows. Lyger makes more sense. Rush being a spotlight match (rematch vs Yujiro? Goto?) seems to fit with CMLL goals, as well as Mascara Dorada getting a big match (Bucanero is not doing much with his belt). Titan vs Euforia would also be a fun showcase for both guys, and it’d be weird if Volador and Sombra weren’t involved in something big. There’s a lot of possibilities. Unless there’s a title change between now and January, there won’t be a CMLL pairs or trios title on the line (though Okumura and Namajague are still facing Stuka & Fuego a lot.)

NJPW and CMLL will announce actual matches at a later time, probably early January, and we’ll likely know if any of these will be an iPPV around the same time. There will also likely be CMLL participation on the 01/04 NJPW Toyko Dome show. That usually includes 1 or 2 guys who don’t end up working these shows.

Like this:

CMLL (FRI) 11/09/2012Arena Mexico [CMLL]
1) Sensei & Stigma b Bobby Zavala & Cholo
2) Demus 3:16, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito b Acero, Fantasy, Último DragoncitoAcero replaced Astral, who was hurt in Guadalajara on Tuesday. Rudos took 1/3.
3) Sangre Azteca b Fuego [lightning]Sangre beat Fuego in 5:30 with the counter dropkick.
4) Namajague, Puma King, Shigeo Okumura b Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr., TritonCMLL.com has changed Puma King’s to simply “Puma”, though Radio CMLL still used Puma King. By any name, he continued to feud with Cometa and swapped pins in the first couple falls. Rudos took 2/3, Okumura getting away with a foul on Stuka.
5) Averno, Niebla Roja, Pólvora b Guerrero Maya Jr., La Sombra, TitánAverno led his team to a straight fall win, pinning Titan in the second and challenging for his title.
6) Terrible, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. b Marco Corleone, Máximo, RushBufete del Amor had American football jerseys. Volador was dressed up like a Na’vi from Avatar. Rudos took 1/3. Terrible powerbombed Marco and submitted him to a half crab for the win.

Links

Sports website el Classical visits an Arena Mexico show, which turns in “what is this is lucha libre that I partially understand” piece. Guess which part stuck out the most to the author? Hint: involves a parrot.